Wind leaves thousands without power

WASHINGTON — Thousands of people lost power as a windy Wednesday night turned into a blustery Thursday.

Windy conditions are expected to continue through much of Thursday morning. Temperatures Thursday will reach just into the 30s. Warmer and calmer weather will return Friday, when temperatures climb back into the 50s.

As of 5 a.m., Dominion Power is reporting more than 7,000 outages in Northern Virginia, mostly in Fairfax and Loudoun Counties.

PEPCO is reporting almost 1,000 outages in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties and the District.

BGE is reporting about 1,400 in Montgomery County.

Potomac Edison, NOVEC and SMECO are reporting scattered small outages, as well.

If you lose power, the power companies ask that you report your outage as soon as possible, even if you believe your neighbor already has reported it. This helps utility crews pinpoint the problems and get power back on faster.

Parts of Capitol Lose Power

Earlier Wednesday night, high winds knocked out most of the exterior lights to the building for a brief period at around 8:30 p.m. The Architect of the Capitol got the lights back on after a short time.